Heads In The Clouds

South Florida's Major Airports Offer Places For Plane-watchers To Park, Take It Easy.

December 28, 1994|By KEN KAYE Staff Writer

It's 12:30 p.m. and Osvel Leon has a cheap seat to watch some real entertainment.

Football? A movie?

Try 727s and Airbuses.

Leon, of Carol City, was sitting on the trunk of his Oldsmobile at the west end of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on a recent Friday. Less than 100 yards away, a half-dozen jets were backed up, waiting to take off.

"I like the sound of it," Leon shouted, as a USAir Boeing 757 screamed overhead. "I also like it when they land; you can see the way the pilots fly."

Leon is one of the hundreds of people who flock to South Florida's three major airports every day simply to watch planes come and go.

Many, like Doug Potter of Hollywood, enjoy eating lunch to the accompaniment of jet noise. Lunchtime, it so happens, is the busiest time of day for air traffic.

Potter, a private pilot, sits in his van and listens to pilots chatter on an aircraft radio.

"If I'm near an airport, I'll usually stop at it," he said. "I'd prefer to stop at a small airport; it's interesting to watch student pilots try to land."

Others, like Steve Stepanyk of Tamarac, work near an airport; watching the big birds is a good way to take a break.

"When they take off, they're really loud and that gets the adrenaline up," he said.

Still others bring lounge chairs, blankets, coolers, binoculars and children. Armin Hofmann, of Frankfurt, Germany, brings a ladder and his camera. His hobby is taking pictures of planes when he's not an operations agent for Lufthansa German Airlines.

"I collect and trade the photos with friends," he said.

All three major airports have designated viewing areas near the runways for motorists.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has a grassy field on Southwest 39th Street, south of the west end of the main runway.

There also is a dusty berm off the airport's perimeter road almost directly west of the runway. It is perhaps more popular because planes fly directly overhead.

However, airport officials say the berm can be dangerous because of car traffic in the area.

"The major hazard there is the road is so narrow and you have the distraction of planes going right overhead," airport spokesman Jim Reynolds said. "It gives me the willies to see families with small kids, in case one wanders into the road."

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International also has two good viewing areas to watch smaller planes on the airport's south runway. Brooks Park, on the southeast side of the field, has picnic benches and large shade trees. The Airport Greenbelt, off Griffin Road, has long winding paths and lush landscaping on a hillside.

At Palm Beach International Airport, there is an observation park about midfield off Southern Boulevard. It has benches, trees and parking spaces. It also provides a front row seat to the airport's three runways.

"Quite often there are people there enjoying lunch and watching airplanes come and go," said Lisa Waters, airport spokeswoman. "It's a park specifically set up for that."

At Miami International Airport, motorists jam the shoulder of Perimeter Road, on the south side of the field. Frequently, so many airplane watchers gather there at lunchtime that hot dog vendors have an instant market.

"The public is fascinated by the airport," airport spokesman Marc Henderson said. "Sometimes that is as close as they may get without actually taking a plane somewhere."